VOTERS TO DECIDE ON TAXES, BONDS AND JEFFERSON COUNCIL RACE 1B
N O L A.C O M
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S at u r d ay, M ay 3, 2025
$2.00X
2025 LEGISLATURE
FRIDAY @ JAZZ FEST
TAXES
Lawmakers try again on tax revamp Landry, allies seek to simplify overhaul
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER
Son Rompe Pera perform Friday in the Cultural Exchange Pavilion Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
CASUAL FRIDAY
Joan Jett, Irma Thomas, Son Rompe Pera enliven Jazz Fest Trucker hat-wearing country singer Luke Combs’ “Where The Wild Things Are” and dreadlocked reggae scion Julian Marley & the Wailers’ “Rastaman Vibration” have very little in common, except that they were both performed within easy walking distance of one another Friday at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Mostly, Friday felt Keith comfortably crowded Spera and consistently comfortable thanks to overcast skies and the mild temperatures. It was more than comfortably crowded for Irma MORE @ Thomas at the overJAZZ FEST flowing Gospel Tent. Ushers at one point ONLINE stopped late-arriving fans from entering the tent. But those with the patience could slip into the back corner and receive the blessing that is Irma Thomas singing gospel. She doesn’t do her secular songs in the Gospel Tent, just as she doesn’t do
A month ago, voters soundly rejected a complicated proposal by Gov. Jeff Landry to revamp the tax section of Louisiana’s constitution. The defeat has not deterred Landry and his legislative allies from trying to take another bite of the apple, albeit in smaller bites. The governor and his allies believe that voters rebuffed Amendment 2 on March 29 because it was too complex and tried to make too many different changes. They note that the numerous changes contained in the amendment were spelled out in a 115page bill. So, after breaking out the popular individual pieces, they are now pushing four specific changes that were part of Amendment 2, which lost at the polls along with three other amendments. “Voters said they wanted to be able to vote on simpler forms of those elements,” said Richard Nelson, the revenue secretary and intellectual author of Amendment 2. “This is responsive to that.” Those changes would: n Eliminate three education trust funds, pay off retirement debt and use much of
ä See REVAMP, page 3A
Joan Jett, right, and the Blackhearts close out the Gentilly Stage on Friday at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. them when she sings in church on Sundays. With a drummer, bassist, guitarist and organist and four backing vocalists behind her, Thomas caressed a set of religious material. As a little girl, she said, her parents insisted she attend Sunday school. The songs
ä Saturday’s cubes. PAGE 1D from those years stuck. “If you want to sing along, I don’t have a problem with that,” she
ä See JAZZ FEST, page 4A
La. DEQ chief leaves after months of controversy Veteran staffer to take top job at department
BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer
‘He’s just that kid’ From plate lunches to prime time, John Foster takes his Cajun roots to Hollywood
BY JAN RISHER Staff writer
On any given Monday, the daily lunch special at Benoit’s Country Meat Block in Addis is meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and dessert for $10.99, but these days, every plate lunch comes with a heaping side of John Foster pride. Located, as the crow flies, about a half mile from the Mississippi River, Benoit’s Country Meat Block’s roots are deep in Cajun country. The store is owned by ”American
WEATHER HIGH 80 LOW 70 PAGE 8A
Idol” sensation John Foster’s family, whose grandparents hail from Church Point and Lawtell. When Foster showed up for his “American Idol” audition in Nashville, he brought care packages of boudin, Benoit’s seasoning and beef jerky from his family’s business in Addis, where they sell the full range of Cajun delicacies: hog head cheese, tasso, hot tamales, three types of gumbo, grillades, alligator and 78 other items. “John Foster loves the beef jerky,” his grandmother, Verbie
PROVIDED PHOTO By ERIC MCCANDLESS
Louisiana’s John Foster, right, waves to the audience after learning he’d made ‘American Idol’s’ top 10 on Monday night. Other contestants, from left, Canaan James Hill, Gabby Simone and Josh King are also in the top 10.
Benoit, said. “And somebody at what Luke Bryan was licking ‘American Idol’ loves the sea- off his fingers because he said soning because they ordered a it was so good.” bunch that I delivered the last ä See FOSTER, page 3A time we were out there. That’s
The embattled secretary of Louisiana’s environmental agency is leaving for a post with a Washington, D.C., law firm after months of controversy from staffers upset over her management style and amid high-profile departures. Aurelia Skipwith Giacometto, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, has accepted a position with Giacometto Earth and Water Law Firm, the Governor’s Office said Friday. As the next secretary, Gov. Jeff Landry named Courtney Burdette, a former 10year DEQ staffer who left last year early in Giacometto’s tenure. Burdette “I want to sincerely thank Aurelia for her dedicated service to our State and the Department of Environmental Quality. Aurelia prioritized environmental
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ä See DEQ, page 4A
12TH yEAR, NO. 264